2026-27 Recommended Budget

San Bernardino County Budget Explorer

Making County finance understandable. Start with simple stories, then drill into funds, departments, services, and outcomes when you want more detail.

Explore the budget See why we invest
  • Budget stories
  • Department explorer
  • Budget AI
  • Why We Invest
Start here

Choose a budget path.

Explore the County budget through stories, charts, service priorities, department pages, and program highlights.

01
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Budget Atlas

Click through sources, requirements, staffing, and discretionary funding with plain-language explanations.

02
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Service Map

Browse services by public priority and County region to see how dollars become local services.

03
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Department Explorer

Search a department, view budget history and services, and ask budget questions in the assistant panel.

04
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Why We Invest

End with a short story showing how a Board reserve connects to foster youth stability and a clearly fictional demonstration outcome.

Budget Atlas

See where the money comes from and where it goes.

Click a chart slice to update the explanation, related departments, and plain-language description next to the chart.

Sources

Where the money comes from

Budget donut chart Click chart segments to learn more.
Service map

Browse County services by priority and region.

Select a priority and region to see examples of services supported by the budget.

Budget Explorer
Selected priority

Public Safety

See law enforcement, fire, emergency response, detention, prosecution, defense, probation, and prevention investments in plain language.

Department explorer

Search department budgets and services.

Select a department to view its budget profile, major services, performance measures, and budget assistant.

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Focus on Service

Program stories behind the numbers.

Browse service stories by theme, department, and resident impact.

Performance and outcomes

Service results at a glance.

Selected indicators show how budget information can be paired with service goals and progress.

92%

Service reliability

Percent of selected service targets shown as on track.

78%

Project delivery

Capital project milestones shown by planning, design, and construction status.

86%

Community reach

Programs with public-facing service access information.

Why We Invest

A Board reserve creates capacity for proactive help.

Start with the $28 million Foster Youth Campus Reserve shown in the County budget, then click Why this investment? to walk through the need, risk, cost of waiting, and a clearly labeled fictional outcome used only to demonstrate the site.

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In the County budget

Foster Youth Campus Reserve

The budget reserve is shown at $28 million, tying the story directly back to the 2026-27 Recommended Budget.

Budget table row showing Foster Youth Campus Reserve at $28 million
Budget-book reserve row
Set-aside history

$0 → $10M → $28M

2022-23$0
2023-24$10M
2024-25$28M
2025-26$28M
2026-27$28M

The set-aside preserves capacity for future Board direction. Any specific use would require County review and Board approval.

$28M set asideThe budget begins with a clear Board investment.
Why?San Bernardino carries a higher peer-county foster care burden.
RiskTransition-age foster youth need stable support into adulthood.
Demo outcomeA fictional example shows how a future approved response could be explained.

Public sources shown in this story include CCWIP foster care data, the County budget reserve, transition-age foster youth research, and Santa Clara County's homelessness cost study. The final outcome card is intentionally fictional and labeled for demonstration only.

ITD presentation notes

Notes for turning this site into a production budget site.

This section intentionally holds the presentation commentary so the rest of the page feels like a real resident-facing site.

Now

Static prototype

This Cloudflare Pages demo is static HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, a manifest, and a service worker. It uses no backend and no County network access.

Next

Structured budget content

Summary tables, department pages, Focus on Service entries, and performance measures could become structured content that generates the site automatically.

Future

Integrated publishing

A future publishing workflow could connect approved budget data, media assets, maps, accessibility checks, translation, and review approvals.

AI concept

Budget assistant governance

The department assistant shown above is a static prototype. A production version would need approved data sources, citations, logging, privacy review, and clear rules for public responses.

Prototype controls

Try the page like a resident or evaluator.

Toggle dark mode, search departments, click chart segments, open Focus on Service stories, and resize to mobile.

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